Even as the police continues to grope in the dark for clues pertaining to the acid attack on a 26-year-old lady doctor in west Delhi, the Centre on Wednesday approved a slew of steps aimed at ‘strengthening the legal and administrative framework’ of the country and ‘creating a mechanism for quick relief and rehabilitation of the acid attack victims’.
A statement released by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that the Central Government was working on a web application to regulate the sale of acid, developing a mechanism to ensure cashless treatment to acid attack survivors and framing rules for time-bound investigation of such cases by the police and disposal by courts in addition to similar measures.
The said statement acknowledged that ‘more needs to be done as victims of acid attack suffer a lot’ and attributed the new measures the Government was mulling to suggestions received ‘from various corners’ including setting up a Central Victim Compensation Fund.
According to the statement, the first step in this direction would be a web application which would enable registration of stockists and retailers, issue of licenses by the District administration, targeting sale of acid to individuals only after recording personal details like proof of identity and proof of address of the purchaser. This would aim at reducing unauthorised sale of acid in the country.
The second would be to ensure that victims of acid attacks were treated by the hospitals in ‘a hassle free manner’ for which the MHA was in consultation with various stakeholders such as the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Ministry of Finance and Insurance companies, so that victims of acid attacks were treated on cashless basis and the treatment amount was paid from the Central Victim Compensation Fund which the MHA proposed to set up.
The Government has also proposed to bring suitable amendments in laws to fix the time frame for disposal of appeals by courts, especially in cases of heinous crimes including acid attacks, to ensure speedy justice.
